I : Winds of Fate - II

The next day,Rain was on his way to school. He didn't bother going back to class yesterday ,and since he seemed to be excused from some unknown reason. he simply did whatever he wanted to pass the time,part of which included his meeting with Raven. What Raven had told him was etched in his mind, he could still vividly remember what she had said yesterday under that tree...

' Say,have you ever felt as if the world we know about is somewhat fake? '

He raised his eyebrow in confusion, he did not understand what she had meant by that question.

Sensing Rain's confusion,Raven said : ' This peace... this harmony... It seems to be a false cover for what we know as the earth. '

He was about to ask for her to clarify more clearly when she stepped up to him,putting her finger on his lips , silencing him. He blushed at such close proximity between them. She once again looked up at the sky,similar to what she had done before their earlier conversation. She then continued : ' Are you aware that there is famine in some parts of the world? '

Famine? How was that possible? The world, the empires,they are currently very prosperous, aren't they? Similar questions filled Rain's mind,but it quickly vanished when Raven told him : ' There are still evil around the world. There are empires that, on the surface,it looks as if it is ruled by a generous emperor.However,beneath that surface,the emperor is controlled by evil ministers as if they were puppets in a play.These ministers would feed the Emperors false information,which often causes many innocent people to be captured and detained.He would use this influence to make himself known,some of these minsters would even kidnap women to satiate their lust,murder those who opposed him.There are even some who plotted to dethrone the emperor and use their new-found influence to harm the small countries around them,committing more evil in them.This are some of the things that I have seen and heard about in my missions,do you know about all this? '

Rain widened his eyes in shock. Where he lived,he did not bother trying to obtain information about the outside world as most of it was unrelated to his goal,hence his lack of such knowledge. He wasn't surprised that Raven knew about all this,since she was the Black Cat and all.

However,all of this was not what shocked him.It was the flurry of emotions inside of him,he had never EVER been concerned about things like this.However,he could feel various emotions bubbling inside of him upon hearing this news.Anger,sadness and a dark feeling that he could not recognize.What was happening to him?

Raven noticed that Rain seemed to be conflicted,but she dismissed it as him being simply angered by the information that she had just told him. She was about to open her mouth to say another word,but was quickly stopped when Rain told her : ' I-I need to go clear my head. We'll continue this another time. '

She nodded her head at this.

Rain quickly walked past her,seemingly conflicted about something.Raven just stood there,watching him leave as his figure became smaller and smaller,before she turned and headed back to class as well since lunch break was ending.A thought suddenly popped up in her mind : ' He has not asked me about what class I'm in yet,or even a way to contact me... ' Upon this realization,she giggled. Rain was more simple-minded than she expected.

He was woken from his thoughts when he heard someone calling out to him. ' Rain! ' he heard.

He turned to face the voice when he saw Aster running up to him.He sensed danger from an incoming impact and quickly dodged Aster when he was close to running into him,causing Aster to smash head-first into a tree nearby.

' ... It's good to see you too,Aster. ' He sweatdropped.

Aster quickly jumped up to his feet,and ran towards Rain. ' Where did you go after the fight? What was those attacks ? How are you that strong? ' He spat out quickly,which caused Rain's eye to twitch in irritation.

Rain seemed to emit a red aura around him that greatly showed how irritated he felt,which alerted the students around Rain and Aster,while also frightening the latter. ' Shut up! ' He yelled. Realizing what had just happened, Rain quickly calmed himself down,surprised at his loss of controls over his emotions. He looked around him and saw many students staring at him,some where even giggling at what had just transpired,causing Rain's cheeks to redden in embarrassment,which shocked him considering such things did not affect him in the past.He quickly ignored this thought and dragged Aster with him towards their class to get away from this embarrassment...

When Rain walked into the classroom with Aster in tow,many students were surprised to see him. Some of them greeted him,questioning him about his absence from the other lessons,while some of them ran up to him and complimented him on his excellent performance yesterday. He simply thanked some of them and promised the others that he would talk to them later,dragging Aster with him to his seat afterwards to continue their earlier conversation. Before Aster could even say a word, Rain asked : ' Why was nobody looking for me after I left? I would imagine that a school like this would not tolerate truancy ? '

' Well, of course our form-teacher Mr Douglas asked us about it,but Mr Roark came in the classroom all of a sudden and told her that you were sick and was sent home. ' He informed him.

That was odd.Why would Mr Roark do that for him ? He would think that Mr Roark would try to get him in trouble after he had humiliated him like that. What a plot twist this was. He decided to try and find out later.It was then a thought popped out in his mind. ' Say,do you know of a person called Raven in this school? ' He asked Aster,he had forgotten to ask her about her class and some other things,and decided to ask about it now if he could find her.He needed to discuss with her about the Crash Magica competition anyways.

' Oh,you mean Raven Kurona? Of course I would know where she is,she is a prominent figure in this school! She is from Class I Diamond and is a part of the ' Three Pillars ' group! '

Raven Kurona? He assume that it is the identity that Raven uses as a student. After all,if people knew she was Raven Shihion,it would bring about unwanted hindrances. However,he facepalmed internally at the students' stupidity,their name was too similar! However,there was something that intrigued him in Aster's earlier sentence.. ' What is the Three Pillars? ' he asked.

Aster excitedly replied : ' They are the three strongest students in this school,each coming from their respective school-year! They are all obviously from the Diamond Class,but these three people are : Class I Diamond, Raven Kurona,otherwise known as the Black Witch! Class II Diamond, Leon Quarles,dubbed the White Knight! Finally,the person who had been in the finals of the Crash Magica last year which was his first time participating, from Class III Diamond, Titus Vockenheim,known as the Unrivalled King! '

Rain chuckled. This Titus guy is known as the Unrivalled King huh? He hoped that that fame did not lead to there stick being shoved up this Titus's guy ass due to his arrogance,although,the fact that he had participated in the Crash Magica before interested him...He brushed off that thought and wondered if this Leon had lent his fame get to his head like he expected Titus to do.Nevertheless,he would judge their strength personally when he gets a chance to fight them.He had no doubt that they would participate in the Crash Magica this year,so that could be a possible time to settle this. However,he found Raven's title funny though. It seems that no matter who she was known as, Raven Shihoin or Raven Kurona,she would be dubbed Black something,which he find pretty hilarious! He also noticed that this Titus guy's title is similar to the Uncrowned Emperor,was he somehow inspired by them? He put aside that thought for now,intending to deal with all of that at a later date. He was about to say something to Aster when he saw 'her' walk through the door.

Scarlet walked towards him, which he noticed that she seemed to be avoiding eye-contact with him. He tilted his head in confusion and simply looked at Scarlet as she walked towards him. He remembered how everybody had reacted when he was told to be seated with Scarlet. The males was obviously jealous as they were clearing cursing him to death. The females... sigh.Their reactions was obvious. However,he doubted that her popularity is only due to her charm. He was sure that most,if not,all of the male and female students alike found Raven's beauty more captivating than Scarlet,so there has to be a reason.He suddenly remembered what Aster had told him,he gritted his teeth in anger remembering the fact that she had been mocked by a few students of the Raven's class before,no doubt he would make them regret it soon...

While walking up to him, Scarlet's cheeks started to feel hotter and hotter. ' Why am I so shy now of all times!? All I have to do is walk up to him,greet him,and then strike a simple conversation with him! I have to admit,he looks really cool though... GAHHH, why am I thinking about that!? ' she thought. She was extremely impressed by him yesterday,the way he fought made him look so charming,so gallant.This unexpectedly led to her falling for him,she did not understand why as well,but she just felt..right when she thinks about being with him.For now,she would try to befriend him at least.

She stood in front of Rain and shyly greeted him : ' G-Good Morwing Wain! ' The moment that sentence came out of her mouth,the classroom was so silent that a pin drop could be heard. Scarlet blushed in embarrassment,she couldn't believe that she had bit her tongue like that! Surely Rain was laughing at her internally now! However,little did Scarlet know that.the only thought that ran through Rain and the other students' minds was ' cute.... '

Getting over her embarrassment,she quickly continued : ' Why did you leave so suddenly yesterday?'

The moment they heard her asking that question,many of the students looked at Rain curiously,intending to hear his answer,including Aster,who was clearly curious about his reasons as well.

Rain sighed,he said : ' I was aware that my performance yesterday would have garnered quite alot of attention from all of you,so to avoid all the questions I might be getting,I decided that leaving was the best option.To be honest, I left due to how used I was to having to sneak away to avoid the people that would be fawning over me after I did something impressive.I was so used to it that I just left like usual.I also forgot that I was in school though,but upon realizing it when i exited the school,I couldn't be bothered to go back to class so I just did whatever I wanted,intending to deal with the consequences tomorrow,which is today.I was surprised that Mr Roark would cover for me though,do any of you know why he did that? '

Many of the students sweatdropped at his answer,including Scarlet and Aster.He forgot that he was in a school? How dense was he...

They shook their heads,signaling to him that they did not know the reason behind Mr Roark's action as well. He decided that it's best if he simply ask him during Combat lesson,that is,if he does appear.

[ Ring... ] The school bell had rang,the students quickly got seated,and likewise,Aster and Scarlet did so as well.Not long after,the classroom's door slid open,and Mr Douglas stepped in.

' Good morning class! Ah,I see you are back as well, Rain! Are you okay now? It must be unfortunate that you fell sick on your first day of school. ' he said.

Rain smiled at him. ' I am okay now Mr Douglas,thank you for your concern.Indeed,it is unfortunate that I fell sick on my first day of school.But I am okay now,sorry for not notifying you though. '

Mr Douglas smiled back at him and told Rain at it was okay.Home period quickly started,and Rain simply looked out at the window.All that he could think about was talking to Raven again...

Was it because he just wanted to see her beautiful face again? Or was it because he wanted to talk to her about the Crash Magica? It was the latter,he needed to also ask about her details,such as how he can find her if he did indeed need to talk to her and other things as well.

... Okay,maybe it was because he just wanted to see her again,after all,that beauty entranced him.

Little did he know that Raven had the same thoughts as him as well,she looked out the window at her respective classroom,wanting to see him as soon as lunch break starts.

Time seemed to have stopped for the both of them,as they respectively thought : ' Raven..' /

' Rain... '